Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Secret Meeting
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"Do we really have to go this far?"
"She said there were circumstances."
The back seat of a large sedan.
Even though he was sitting on the plush luxury seats, Lee Jun felt an odd discomfort.
'Wasn't it just supposed to be grabbing a drink?'
He'd received an invitation from Jeon Woo-seung to meet up with Jeon Jeonseol for a drink.
The two of them occasionally hung out together, but this was the first time the newbie Jeon Jeonseol would be joining.
'This is embarrassing.'
Anyone but a fool could guess why the sudden meetup.
The moment Jeon Jeonseol overtook him in the rankings, tears had slipped out unbidden.
And since it happened live on stream, clips of it were plastered all over the internet.
Did his body know better than his head?
His true feelings.
He'd thought he wasn't that upset, but his body had wept on its own, leaving him flustered and ashamed.
He'd brushed it off quickly and didn't think it was that big a deal.
But the situation was awkward enough that refusing the drinks felt petty, and accepting meant enduring the embarrassment anyway.
Facing it head-on was a little better than running away.
That was his mindset when he agreed.
'She even has her own personal driver. This is awkward.'
Victory made good money, enough to drive an expensive car and hire a chauffeur, and Wild could do the same—but the very concept felt utterly foreign to him.
'Like some drama heroine.'
A rise in status, perhaps.
Lee Jun came from an ordinary family, and Jeon Woo-seung from an even worse one.
This world felt alien.
'Calling us to a villa, of all things.'
After driving an hour and a half from Gangnam, they arrived deep in the mountains of Gangwon Province.
Jeon Dae-in owned a villa there.
It wasn't some massive luxury estate.
The building was dated, far from modern.
But to ordinary Koreans, the idea of owning a villa was exotic enough.
Even a plain structure looked special.
"Haaah!"
"Right. A roaring bear?"
"It's a bear, you punk."
The seats were comfortable, and the interior came equipped with OLED pads and other amenities.
But Lee Jun had ridden stiffly like a statue, uncomfortable in this stranger's car.
Now he stretched, breathing in the crisp mountain air.
"Having a villa in a place like this would be nice."
It wasn't one of those ultra-luxurious celebrity villas you see online.
But a villa in the mountains by clear waters stirred something wild in a man.
Made him want to fire up the grill in the yard right away.
"Hello!"
As he stretched, an elderly couple emerged from the villa.
Lee Jun and Jeon Woo-seung greeted them naturally.
Late fifties or early sixties, they looked to be in their prime elderly years.
"You must be the young lady's friends. Welcome."
Only from their speech did the two realize they weren't Jeon Jeonseol's parents, but the villa caretakers.
"The young lady is waiting in the dining room."
"Ah, thank you."
Finally, they'd meet the real Jeon Jeonseol.
The two were dying to know what she looked like.
A genius gamer who dominated like a maniac—and she was a woman.
On top of that, Jeon Woo-seung had heard "She's so pretty it's torture" so often it was drilled into his ears, making him even more curious.
The moment they crossed the hall and opened the dining room door as directed...
Their hearts pounded.
'Why am I so nervous over this?'
'If a mini gorilla's standing there, don't freak out. That'd be rude.'
The dining room door swung open.
"Hello. Nice to meet you."
"Whoa."
"......"
An astonishing beauty that left them speechless!
With mountains visible through the glass windows, she looked like flawless computer graphics in contrast.
Clothes that could be a dress or casual wear, with perfect proportions and a tall, statuesque figure.
'......Tall?'
No way.
Jeon Jeonseol being tiny was common knowledge among viewers.
"I'm Jeon Seol-yun, Seol-a's little sister."
So it was someone else!
Maybe it was a good thing they'd been stunned silent.
No awkward slip-ups.
"Hello. Where's your friend?"
When Seol-yun shifted slightly, they spotted Seol-a crouched on a chair.
"N-Nice to meet you."
In stark contrast to her dressed-up sister, she wore baggy blue tracksuit pants and a long-sleeved top.
She could head straight out hiking and no one would bat an eye.
"I'm... Legend."
It was her greeting after agonizing for about six hours.
'What? That killer cuteness?'
Do you know the body—or rather, the mind—has homeostasis?
Homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a constant, stable state.
This kind of homeostasis kicks in with extreme emotions, triggering compensatory reactions to regulate inner feelings.
To prevent emotions from swinging too far and losing control.
Like crying from too much joy.
Or laughing when you're too sad.
Or wanting to bully something because it's too cute.
It's called "cute aggression."
Lee Jun's face twisted and froze in that phenomenon, startling Seol-a.
"W-What's with him? What's wrong?"
She darted behind Seol-yun.
That move was insanely cute!
"No, no."
Lee Jun tried to say something, but his brain stalled, so he raised his hands.
Surrender pose—arms up, backing away to show he meant no harm.
But someone even more shocked than Lee Jun doing that weird thing was there.
'Her boobs weren't huge? She wasn't blonde?'
Jeon Woo-seung, whose info was based only on her disguised streams.
Seeing her black hair, petite stature, and perfect form left him stunned.
Like an ideal woman, reminiscent of Nox from Magical Girls Chronicle.
Speechless, thoughtless.
His mind went blank.
"Why don't we all take a seat first."
It took the caretaker about one minute and thirty seconds to arrive and defuse the tension.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Why are you guys so huge?"
'You're the tiny one.'
Everyone in the dining room (except Legend) thought it, but no one said it aloud.
Though it was a bit unfair—Jeon Woo-seung was above average, and Seol-yun and Lee Jun were extremely tall.
Even if Seol-a was small, she looked tiny by comparison.
She had a right to feel a little aggrieved.
Not that it changed her being small.
There were two main reasons for dragging them all the way to remote Gangwon Province for drinks.
One: Celebrities like Victory, Wild, and the much-sought-after Jeon Jeonseol—this lineup getting spotted together would be a disaster.
The other: Anxiety.
A private room with just two guys felt too risky.
Call her paranoid, see everyone as a potential criminal—she couldn't help it.
She couldn't meet people without trusted folks nearby.
Bringing just Seol-yun wouldn't cut it against two men.
With the driver Kim, and the caretaker couple...
This many people made her feel safe.
'No exaggeration.'
Jeon Woo-seung, naturally, knew little of women's worlds.
But if Seol-a said, "I get jealousy and envy because I'm pretty," he'd think, "Yeah, that tracks—no wonder."
Perfectly even skin tone, huge sparkling eyes, facial proportions flawless—no excess, no lack.
If there was a plastic surgery textbook, she'd be the model.
Fix like this, and every client would be thrilled.
"Eat up."
The caretakers weren't pro chefs, but their cooking was pretty good.
They'd prepped menus for guests, too.
Quality ingredients over cooking skill.
Sashimi platters and shabu-shabu.
Perfect drinking food.
"Even rich folks eat like this, huh."
"We're not chaebol. Just normal eating."
With food in play, conversation finally loosened up around it.
"But why stare so hard? Already smitten?"
"Koff!"
Jeon Woo-seung choked on his water.
As he barely protested...
"What else am I supposed to look at during a conversation?"
"The food... and the ceiling?"
"I'll try."
"Like I said before, don't fall for me."
Right, there was that promise.
So out-of-left-field, he'd forgotten.
'Must cause her endless trouble.'
From afar, via internet tales, it sounded like delusions of grandeur.
But seeing her face-to-face? All made sense.
The power of a face is scary.
Hard to believe his once-all-day gaming rival, the one top-tier friend he'd acknowledged, had that face and vibe.
'Am I dreaming?'
The shabu-shabu broth was real-hot, so probably not.
A warm meal thawing a chilly winter body.
Mountain views beyond the windows.
Two fairies seated before him.
Was this Peach Blossom Land?
Or had yokai bewitched him?
Would they devour his liver like this?
Too deep in the mountains.
Too far from civilization.
Thoughts like that crossed his mind.